Readings: 1 Samuel 1:1-20, 24-28; 2:11-12, 18-23; 3:1-20; Acts 9:3-9; Luke 2:52 In the name of the Father and of the +Son and of the Holy Spirit, Amen. She was barren. Her rival was not. (1 Sam. 1:2) What folk remedies, what old wives tales, what positions had she tried with her husband? Barrenness hurts when you want kids. You ask yourself, why is my body rebelling? It hurts even more when you believed the Lord’s promise to your family that through a son of your family He will bless all families of the earth. (Gen. 12:3) He will save the world crushing the power of sin, Satan, and death. (Gen. 3:15) For in this family sons were a heritage from Lord. (Ps. 127:3) They were a sign of the Lord’s salvation for every family of earth. She believed. So, why did the Lord seem to be against her? Why did she have no children? And then there was her rival: Peninnah. (1 Sam. 1:6-8)